1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to liquid thermal management systems and more specifically it relates to a service tray for a thermal management system for providing convenient access to components within a liquid thermal management system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Any discussion of the prior art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such prior art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.
Single-phase liquid thermal management systems (e.g. liquid cold plates) and two-phase liquid thermal management systems (e.g. spray cooling, pool boiling, flow boiling, jet impingement cooling, falling-film cooling, parallel forced convection, curved channel cooling and capillary pumped loops) have been in use for years for thermally managing various types of heat producing devices. Spray cooling technology is being adopted today as the most efficient option for thermally managing electronic systems. U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,804 entitled High Heat Flux Evaporative Spray Cooling to Tilton et al. describes the earlier versions of spray technology, as it relates to cooling electronics. U.S. Pat. No. 6,108,201 entitled Fluid Control Apparatus and Method for Spray Cooling to Tilton et al. also describes the usage of spray technology to cool a printed circuit board.
Conventional liquid thermal management systems typically are comprised of a chassis for housing the thermal management components and the electronic components being thermally managed. An access door is removably attached to the chassis using conventional fasteners (e.g. bolts) thereby selectively closing an access opening within the chassis. When the access door is removed, a service technician is able to access the thermal management components (e.g. pumps, filters, heaters, valves, spray units, etc.) to repair, replace or test.
One problem with conventional liquid thermal management systems is that the service technician can have a difficult time accessing the thermal management components within the chassis. Another problem with conventional liquid thermal management systems is that visibility can be limited within the interior of the chassis making it difficult to locate, view or monitor thermal management components. A further problem with conventional liquid thermal management systems is that liquid coolant is susceptible to contamination and loss when the access door is opened. Another problem with conventional liquid thermal management systems is that the access door can be time consuming to open and close.